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New Year's Day cabbage pie with leek, fennel and mushroom from The Spoon + Shovel

Growing up, cabbage was like an ignored relative at the dinner table, only visiting for New Year’s Day and sometimes St. Patrick’s Day, leaving a vague feeling of discomfort and some odd smells in its wake. It seems to have become a tradition of mine to buy a head of cabbage for New Years, only to stare at it on the kitchen counter, wondering what to do with it. This year, though, there was a fennel bulb I had forgotten about during the holidays and a sale on mushrooms at the store, so I figured a vegetable pie was the perfect dinner for a chilly start to 2015.I think a lot of people are turned off by cabbage because of how gassy it makes them feel, but never fear! Fennel has carminative properties that alleviate bloating, on top of tasting amazing. Added bonus: not looking like an alien is about to pop out of your belly after dinner!

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.-Place an ice cube in a small cup of water. -Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl and cut in the butter, then combine with a pastry knife or your own (floured) fingers. -Once you have crumbles about the size of peas, add a little ice water and mix. Depending on the type of butter used, it may only take a few tablespoons to hold together, but if your dough is sticky, add another ¼ C. flour. -Remove from the mixing bowl, divide into 2 balls and place your first one on a floured sheet of wax paper, ~ 2’ long. -Cover dough in flour evenly, then place on one side of the paper and fold the other side over. -Roll out using a rolling pin until you have a roughly circular crust, then place in your pie plate.-Repeat with the other half of the dough (which will be your top crust).-Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high.-Slice the leek from root to leaves, stopping where the leaves branch off of the main stem. -Add to the pan, then chop the cabbage, fennel and mushrooms as your leek cooks. -Once steam is rising from the leek, add the rest of the vegetables and toss.-Sauté for ~5 min. and then spoon into the pie plate.-Cover with the top crust, pinch the 2 crusts together along the edges, and poke a few holes in the top with a sharp knife. -Place on the center rack in your oven and bake for 30-40min, or until the crust is golden brown and steam is visible through the holes in the crust. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

New Year's Day cabbage pie with leek, fennel and mushroom from The Spoon + Shovel

Easy as (veggie) pie, and perfect for a relaxing winter day. Happy belated new year!